


Unmarked Graves

by Lunarflare14



Category: Fallout 4
Genre: Dysfunctional Family, F/M, Families of Choice, Inspirational Speeches, Love Confessions, Super spoilers, Wakes & Funerals
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-24
Updated: 2015-11-24
Packaged: 2018-05-03 05:24:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,183
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5278337
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lunarflare14/pseuds/Lunarflare14
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Judy, the survivor of Vault 111, returns from the Institute with reorganized priorities.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Unmarked Graves

**Author's Note:**

> Super Spoilery

Preston had been waiting for Judy to return from the Institute for four hours. He wasn’t sure if she even made it there, let alone if she would ever get out. But he tried to be patient. Their rag tag band of people she had been accumulating were all getting restless; Piper was typing furiously at some article she’d never publish, MacCready had taken up guard duty on one of the towers they’d built and was shooting at something in the distance, Hancock was high on Mentat’s in the house that had the party bowl light, Cait was nowhere to be seen probably punching something, Dogmeat was sitting at Preston’s feet and staring sadly at the teleporter, Deacon was pretending to be just another settler and failing, Nick was teaching poker to Codsworth and Curie but was obviously distracted as he kept losing to them, and Strong had wondered off.

And there was him of course, just sitting in a chair at the workstation, staring at the busted teleporter with Dogmeat. Judy was… special to him and not just because she was the General and probably the best hope for the Commonwealth.  She had this smile, and these eyes, and a laugh.

He was grossly dependent on her very existence. It was only occurring to him now, as he stared at the ruined piece of machinery that sent her away, that she may never come back. It was eating away at his insides with every passing minute. And with all that complicated set aside, he’d never told her how much her friendship meant to him. That was the worst part. The wasteland just kept taking and taking from him. He felt like he’d be sick from the worry.

Then there was a flash of blue light about six feet from him and boom, there she was. She blinked in the harsh light of day, looking around before staring at her Pip-Boy. “Well what do ya know? That worked.”

He was up and hugging her before he could stop himself, Dogmeat at his heels and whining as he circled them. Judy hugged back, her grip a vice around him. “You’re back.”

She held him tighter still. “Yeah.”

The others came running and MacCready got there first tackling them both to the ground. Soon there was a dog pile on her and she they were all laughing. Codsworth bounce happily in the air around them. “Get off you guys! Oh my gosh, you’re all heavy.  No more Mutfruit for any of you!”

Everyone started asking questions as they disengaged from the pile; what was the Institute like, did she find Shaun how did she get back? She stood and held up her hands to silence them. “It’s… a long story. But there is something… I have to ask you all a favor. There is something I have to do and I’ve been… I’ve put it off long enough. Then I’ll tell you everything.” There was a tone of uncertainty that had them all exchanging looks.

Preston stepped forward. “We’re behind you, General. One hundred percent.”

She nodded, tears welling up in her eyes as she gave them a sad smile. “Grab some shovels and follow me.” They made their way out the back side of Sanctuary Hills, across a small bridge, and up a hill. There on the ground was a large platform with the number 111. The vault she’d been locked up in since before the war. “Blue?” Piper asked, uncertain. But Judy was already in the control booth activating something.

“Stand on the gear, guys.” They did and when Judy joined then it started to move downward into the earth. She walked them through it, straight to the back. There were some dead radroach corpses lying around the door way to another part of the vault and what looked like blood on the floor. Preston knew it was hers. They entered a room that was freezing cold and with pods lining either side of the walls. Judy stopped at the end pod. It contained a man in his late twenties, a bullet hole in his chest. She turned to them all.

“We’re going to bury them.” She looked around at the pods. “All of them.” For a moment everyone stood there, realizing what she intended to do. Two companions to a pod they started to unload the bodies of the vault occupants. Judy refused help to move her husband. They loaded them up on the elevator, moving half of them at a time. The ones who went up with the first group started digging. Apparently at some point Strong had showed up and was digging when Preston came up with the last of them. They were all quiet, working silently at digging the graves. The dug them as far away from the vault as they good.

Once those were done, they buried each person, one by one. Judy insisted on digging her husband’s grave alone. She dug until her hands blistered. When it was finally done she pulled him in the grave herself, arranging him with his arms folded across his chest. Strong pulled her out of the grave and she allowed them to help her cover him.

They were all sweating and dirty from the labor but Judy walked in front of the group. “I know you all may not understand what we just did. But I’m going to tell you. We gave these people back the dignity that was stolen from them. We put them back to the earth from which they came. We did it because it was right. To me they were neighbors, people I knew, but to you they were simply someone I told you to bury and you did it. Because you trust me to do the right thing.” She steeled herself, standing taller and beginning to pace in front of them. “You all know what the Commonwealth is like. Decency is hard to come by on a good day and all of you have made me proud in how much you show it… except maybe you Strong, but I’m proud of you in other ways.” Raking her hand through her hair she sighed, turning back to the graves. “I left the vault alone and afraid. Thinking my son only recently kidnapped. I found out he was taken by the Institute thinking a few years had actually passed since they stole him. I found my son in the Institute. I learned it had not been a year or ten years or even twenty years since my late husband’s murder… but sixty. My son, Shaun, is now director of the Institute. To tear them down would be to tear him down as well.”

No one said anything, most looked too shocked to speak. Preston’s stomach felt like it was in his shoes. What had that been like? How did she go through that alone?

“And that’s what I’m going to do.”

No one said anything. No one seemed able to breath.

“The Institute is everything people said it was and more. I’ve learned a lot of their dirty little secrets and I plan to use them. They stole my son, they used him and they killed my husband in the name of the greater good. Today is the first day of the Revolution. Today is the day we begin to take back the Commonwealth.”

“We’re with you, Blue!” Piper called out.

MaCready let out a loud whoop, and the other’s joined in. Preston came forward and put a hand on her shoulder. “We’ll follow wherever you lead, General.”

Strong frowned. “Human talk too much. Will Strong get to kill?”

Judy cringed. “More than I would normally be comfortable with. For now I need you to do what you do best.” She pointed to the Vault’s control booth. “Tear that apart.” Strong grinned before letting out a wild yell and attacking the console, tearing apart wires and circuitry. “Rest of you can head back… I’m gonna be here a little while longer.” The other’s left for Sanctuary, chatting among themselves. Preston went to leave but Judy grabbed his hand. “Wait. Will you stay with me?”

“Of course.” Truth be told he hadn’t wanted to leave her alone, but he thought she might want to be. She was staring down at her husband’s unmarked grave, still holding Preston’s hand.

Once Strong bounded off to find other things to break, she spoke. “His name was Nate. We went to school together, married just before he went off to war. He did his tour and came home. I’d spent my whole pregnancy alone. I was so ready to be a mother, to have a family. Then the sirens started. And the bombs fell. It’s all gone. Nate died for nothing. Shaun… He isn’t a monster. That just makes it worse.” She squeezed Preston’s hand. “And all that grief lead me here. Nate always said luck favored me. I can think of worse places to end up.”

“If anyone is lucky here it’s me.” She frowned at him and he smiled softly. “I keep thinking about how it was when we first met. All my friends were dead. Everything I believed in was turned out to be a lie. It was the lowest point of my life. I’d failed everyone and I had taken them to Concord with no hope of getting out alive.” He looked at the graves they had dug, fresh dirt still piles high on the human sized mounds. “I was ready to die. I mean I don’t think I’d have done it myself but I’d have found a way. Maybe go out in a blaze of glory. It was what I wanted—what I felt I deserved.”

“I didn’t know you’d lost hope like that,” she said more to the ground then to Preston.

“I only kept going because the others were counting on me. Had to put on a brave face. My point in all this is that… you saved my life, Judy. And not just by saving us from the Raiders in Concord.”

She smiled. “And the Deathclaw.”

“And the Deathclaw. You made me want to keep on living. I guess it sounds pretty sappy but it’s true. If you hadn’t shown up, or had just left us after killing the raiders, I don’t think I’d be here now. I just… I wanted you to know that.”

Judy was silent for a long time. Looking down at the graves, still holding his hand. “So we’ve been in the same boat this whole time.”

Preston frowned. “What?”

“I only cared about one thing when I left the vault. Finding my son and whomever took him. But I was alone, thought I’d only just watched my husband die. I had lead my family to the vault only to have it torn apart. Everyone I knew was dead. Same boat. If I had never known you and found Shaun on my own… I’d probably be dead right now too.”

He smiled again. “I never knew. But I’m glad our friendship means as much to you as it does to me.”

Judy’s eyes came back up to meet his. “Have you ever thought of us being… more than friends?”

“Have I ever… You mean you’ve also?” His heart shot off like a rocket, and words were hard to form as his brain processed that. “Hold on. You’ve kind of caught me off guard here. Let’s start over." He turned to her fully, finally letting go of her hand. “If you’re asking if I’ve ever thought about you…” He struggled with words to describe it that didn’t make him sound like a lecher or an idiot. “…romantically, the short answer is yes.” He glanced over at the fresh graves.  “But I didn’t ever imagine you could feel the same about me. I mean, I know he’s gone, but you still seem to be in love with Nate. I didn’t think you were ready to move on.”

She looked at the graves too. A sad smile at the corners of her lips. “I owed him this. I think I’ll always love him. That doesn’t mean I can’t love you too.”

“Really?” If he sounded surprised that’s because he was. She’d said she loved him. Judy, the General, loved him. “That’s… that’s fantastic. Wow, I, uh… well I don’t really know what to say.” He took her hand and kissed the back of it. “We don’t need to rush it. I’m just happy to know what I felt… that it was real and not just in my head. You’re gonna have to give me a minute to just enjoy this feeling.” He kept her hand in his and she squeezed despite her blisters.

“Will you stay with me a bit longer?”

He stayed where he was as she came closer to put her head on his shoulder as they stood there. Po

Preston understood and pretended not to see the tear stains on his jacket when they finally walked back to Sanctuary. They would face whatever future they created, and they’d do it together.

**Author's Note:**

> So my copy paste was weird but I think I fixed it. Sorry to those three people who read this when the middle was missing.


End file.
